Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

Besides the "Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture," there are two other cultivation methods that can be practiced up to the Golden Core stage.

One of them is called "Fire Mountain Suppressing Yuan Technique," which can be cultivated to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

However, after the foundation is established, this technique focuses on body refinement and comes with a unique supernatural power called the Lava Fire Mountain True Body. Once mastered, it is extremely powerful, and even when facing an attack from several cultivators of the same realm, it is difficult to break through the Dharma Body's defense.

Its weaknesses are also obvious: it is good at defense but not enough at offense. Activating its Dharma Body will also affect its escape speed, leaving it only able to passively take hits.

The cultivation path of this technique did not suit him. The path of body refinement had declined, and the current body refinement techniques were far less effective at increasing lifespan than Qi cultivation techniques.

Nowadays, Qi Refining cultivators who break through to Foundation Establishment have a lifespan of around two hundred years. If they cultivate a special technique, they can even live for around two hundred and thirty years.

However, a second-tier Body Refinement Foundation Establishment cultivator's lifespan is only a little over two Jiazi (60 years), roughly around 130 years, which is several decades less than a Qi Refining cultivator. Cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao is essentially a race against time, and a short lifespan is a huge disadvantage.

Although the "Fire Mountain Suppressing Yuan Technique" is not a pure body-refining technique, its cultivation method of emphasizing body refining over qi refining after foundation building will result in a lifespan of about a hundred years shorter than that of a normal Golden Core cultivator after Core Formation.

This kind of practice that affects lifespan cannot be chosen in any way.

Among the three fire-based cultivation techniques, the last one is called "Crimson Flame Devouring Spirit Scripture." The core of this technique lies in the word "devour," and after cultivation, one can condense a natal spirit fire.

The subsequent cultivation process is quite simple: use your natal spirit fire to continuously devour other spirit fires, regardless of whether they are acquired or innate. The more flexible fires you devour, the stronger your natal spirit fire becomes, and the faster your cultivation speed will be.

According to the records in the ancient books, there was once a senior in the sect who, by constantly absorbing spiritual fire, successfully broke through to the Golden Core stage in just over fifty years with the aptitude of three spiritual roots.

Furthermore, when he first entered the Golden Core stage, that senior's natal spiritual fire was enough to kill a cultivator in the middle stage of the Golden Core.

However, due to the lack of subsequent cultivation methods, that senior had no further path to advancement after breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

In the end, in order to break through his cultivation level, he forcibly devoured several kinds of spiritual fire, ultimately resulting in his body exploding and his death.

Even so, the "Crimson Flame Devouring Spirit Scripture" is the most popular choice among all cultivators in the sect who practice fire-attribute techniques.

The Golden Core stage is already a realm that countless cultivators dream of. In comparison, once you achieve the Golden Core stage, not being able to advance any further in your cultivation level is not a problem at all.

"The Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture is definitely the first choice, and the second choice is the Crimson Flame Devouring Spirit Scripture. We will decide which one to choose after we have read it carefully."

Having sorted out his thoughts, Zhang Li no longer hesitated and headed towards the Sutra Repository once more.

Compared to the outer sect's scripture pavilion, the inner sect's scripture pavilion is much larger in scale. It truly contains the accumulation of the Qingxuan Sect over three thousand years, representing the sect's true foundation.

With his inner disciple identification token hanging from his waist, he walked into the Scripture Pavilion without any hindrance.

Just like the outer sect, the cultivation techniques and spells were all placed on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, so Zhang Li went straight to the second floor.

"Found it."

After searching for a short while, he quickly found the location where the fire-type cultivation technique was placed.

Zhang Li's first goal was, of course, the "Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture".

As one of the few cultivation methods that can lead to the Golden Core stage, it was naturally placed in a very conspicuous position and was also subject to a very powerful restriction.

Zhang Li took out his disciple token, stuck it to the restriction, and only after the restriction dissipated did he take out the jade slip containing the "Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture".

The jade slip also contains restrictions, allowing cultivators to read only a portion of its contents.

Although it was only a partial information, the information in the jade slip was much more detailed than what Zhang Li had seen before.

"The Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture is the top fire-type cultivation technique of our sect. It has been improved and perfected by several Golden Core cultivators in the sect. The cultivation of the supernatural power [Golden Crow True Fire] can be replaced by the essence blood of a demon beast containing the Golden Crow bloodline. The higher the purity of the bloodline, the stronger the power of the true fire, and the less impact it has on the subsequent advancement of cultivation."

"To cultivate this technique, one must rely on the intense and powerful essence of the sun at noon every day to accelerate the process. Qi Refining cultivators can absorb a maximum of one wisp every five days, while Foundation Establishment cultivators can absorb as much as they can handle."

"If you find the pain of the scorching sun unbearable, you can take the Golden Sun Pill instead to speed up your cultivation."

In about fifteen minutes, Zhang Li had browsed through the information revealed in the jade slip.

I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that the essence blood of a demon beast containing the Golden Crow bloodline could be used to cultivate the [Golden Crow Divine Power].

Although the power cultivated has been weakened, at least the subsequent cultivation of the Golden Core stage will not be completely halted due to the supernatural power.

Zhang Li immediately decided to choose the "Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture".

As for the Golden Sun Pill needed for subsequent cultivation, it just so happens to be exactly what he was looking for.

All the spiritual herbs used to refine the Golden Sun Pill can be planted and cultivated. With the [Cave Heaven] within him, Zhang Li can refine as many as he wants.

The only problem is that the Golden Sun Pill is a second-tier pill, and it may be necessary to start trying to refine it after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Although he had already made up his mind, Zhang Li did not make a decision immediately.

He took out the jade slip containing the "Crimson Flame Devouring Spirit Scripture" and carefully read through it.

Zhang Li was surprised to learn that the sect had already established a standardized process for cultivating this technique.

Most of the spiritual fire needed for cultivation techniques can be exchanged within the sect. If everything goes smoothly, one can cultivate all the way to the Golden Core stage.

"This isn't a cultivation technique, it's practically a contract of servitude!"

Zhang Li mentally scoffed and put the jade slip back.

"It's the 'Golden Crow Burning Flame Sutra'."

Zhang Li took out the jade slip again and went straight to the elder in charge of exchanging cultivation techniques.

"The Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture? A newly promoted inner disciple exchanging it for a cultivation technique?"

The Foundation Establishment elder glanced at Zhang Li's cultivation level and guessed the truth.

"Uncle-Master's insight is indeed profound."

The Foundation Establishment elder did not interfere with his choice, but reminded him: "There are many cultivators in the sect who choose this cultivation method, but less than three out of ten can withstand the pain of being scorched by the sun. Even if they can withstand it, the Golden Sun Pills needed for subsequent cultivation can only be refined by a few elders in the Pill Hall. The quantity is limited and the price is not cheap."

"Why not choose the Crimson Flame Devouring Spirit Scripture? At least the spiritual fires that need to be devoured before Foundation Establishment are not too expensive to exchange."

"Thank you for the reminder, Uncle-Master. After much thought, I've decided that this technique is more suitable for me."

Seeing that Zhang Li had made up his mind, the Foundation Establishment Elder said no more; he had already fulfilled his responsibilities.

After receiving a fee for copying the jade slip, he tossed the copied jade slip to Zhang Li.

"This jade slip only contains the first ten levels of the Golden Crow Burning Flame Scripture, which corresponds to the Qi Refining stage. The subsequent levels can only be obtained after Foundation Establishment."

"Thank you for informing me, Uncle-Master."

Zhang Li accepted the jade slip, bowed in gratitude again, and then turned and left the Scripture Pavilion.